Politics

Republican legislators, including Columbia's Caleb Rowden and Kurt Schaefer, have argued that the state should have the final say on matters of finance. Columbia City Councilman Michael Trapp has said that bills limiting local control block the abilities of municipal governments to govern effectively.

The bill would add sexual orientation and gender to the Missouri Human Rights Statutes, which prohibit discrimination against race, sex, religion and national origin in employment, housing and public accommodations.

Despite advocating the importance of early childhood education, Nixon cut funds for such programs that had been approved by the state legislature, saying the state doesn't have enough revenue to do what he would like.

A political science professor attributes the record number of black candidates on the ballot to the Obama "coattails effect," which encouraged blacks to vote and gave them the confidence to pursue offices they might not have run for in the past.